(ORDO NEWS) — In the search for life on other planets, a couple of promising leads have just come to light: astronomers have identified two Earth-mass worlds in the habitable zone around a red dwarf called GJ 1002.
The habitable zone around a star is the middle ground between a planet that is too hot and too cold for life.
To get into this zone, the planets must revolve around their star at such a distance that, theoretically, liquid water can be on their surface.
“GJ 1002 is a red dwarf whose mass is the Sun,” says astrophysicist Vera Maria Passenger of the Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics (IAC) in Spain. “This is a rather cold, dim star. This means that its habitable zone is very close to the star.”
While we’re far from confirming extraterrestrial life or even running water, GJ 1002b and GJ 1002c still fit the bill – and at only 16 light-years from our solar system, astronomically speaking, they’re close to where we are. in the Universe.
Two space observation instruments – ESPRESSO (Echelle spectrograph for rocky exoplanets and stable spectroscopic observations) and CARMENES (Calar Alto high-resolution search for M-dwarf exo-Earths with near-infrared and optical Echelle spectrographs) – were to be used in tandem to detect star and its planets.
This is because the low light emitted by the GJ 1002 required instruments of high sensitivity and accuracy in recognizing its signatures.
The research team used 139 spectroscopic observations (radiation measurements in deep space) taken between 2017 and 2021 to discover the planets.
So far, we know little about these celestial bodies, except where they are located. . GJ 1002b is closest to its star and takes just over 10 days to complete its orbit; GJ 1002c is farther away, with an orbital period of just over 20 days.
The good news is that the relatively close proximity of GJ 1002b and GJ 1002c means that more detailed observations are easier to make.
The next step is to estimate their atmospheres based on either the light they reflect or the heat they radiate.
“The future ANDES spectrograph for ESO’s ELT telescope, which IAC is involved in developing, could study the presence of oxygen in the atmosphere of GJ 1002c,” says astrophysicist Jonay I. Gonzalez Hernandez of IAC. observable.
As telescopes and data processing algorithms improve, we may be able to detect smaller objects further from Earth.
With these advances in technology, we are getting closer to being able to measure chemical signatures. life on these distant planets, even though they are light years away in space.
“Nature seems to be keen to show us that Earth-like planets are very common,” says astrophysicist Alejandro Suárez Mascarenho of IAC. “Thanks to these two, we now know seven planetary systems very close to the Sun.”
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